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A mammographic screening pilot project in Victoria 1988‐1990
Author(s) -
Cawson Jennifer N,
Rose Allison K,
Allan Prudence E,
Billson Virginia R,
Russell Ian S,
Collins John P,
Alessandri Susy,
FlintRichter Delia M,
Giles Graham G,
Hill David,
Reading Dorothy,
Hurley Susan,
Cockburn Jill,
Livingston Patricia,
Quang Lichun,
Sytema Debbie
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1992.tb137433.x
Subject(s) - medicine , breast cancer , mammography , asymptomatic , population , breast cancer screening , malignancy , biopsy , cancer , gynecology , obstetrics , radiology , environmental health
Objective To pilot and evaluate the feasibility and acceptability to women of population based mammographic screening in Victoria. Design Pilot intervention study in a geographically and demographically defined population. Setting Area of contiguous postcodes surrounding the Breast X‐ray Unit at the Essendon Hospital. Target population Women aged 50 to 69 years living in the target area. Main outcome measures Attendance rates, satisfaction, screening rates, surgical biopsy rates, breast cancer detection rates, and surgical treatment. Results Forty‐one per cent of eligible women in the denominator population attended the Breast X‐ray Unit in the two‐year period; 16 424 women were screened, including 141 women with previous breast cancer. Of every 1000 women screened, 74 were recalled because of mammograms that were suggestive of malignancy, 19 because of technically inadequate mammograms and 16 because of symptoms. All mammograms were read by two radiologists and consensus was required for 12% of films. Of every 1000 asymptomatic women screened, 12.7 had biopsies performed and in 7.1 cancers were detected. In asymptomatic women, the positive predictive value of an abnormal mammogram was 9.4%, and the positive predictive value of a recommendation for biopsy was 55.9%. A total of 131 malignancies were detected, of which 24 (18%) were carcinoma‐in‐situ. The benign to malignant biopsy ratio was 1:1.31. In 82% of women in whom cancer was detected the breast was conserved. Conclusions The Program achieved good standards with respect to mammographic detection, clinical assessment and treatment of women with breast cancer.